Read a full match report of the Aviva Premiership semi-final game between
Leicester Tigers and Harlequins at Welford Road on Saturday May 11 2013.

This was rugby union at its most compelling, but also at its most cruel. In the end this was a horrible drubbing for the champions Harlequins, yet just before half-time they had been in the ascendancy and Leicester were looking a little rattled.

But a try from nowhere just before the break, then a yellow card for Danny Care and the game was turned on its head.

Leicester need no second invitation on such occasions, and they duly took advantage, and some more, with a performance of quite remarkable intensity, physicality and precision.

They took their chances on the turnover superbly well and Quins simply could not cope with the unrelenting physical onslaught. Leicester are now through to their ninth successive Premiership final. Ninth! It is quite an astonishing record.

And there were some astonishing individual efforts. Mathew Tait at full back was magnificent, solid under the high ball and dangerous in attack, but also surprisingly physical in contact.

Winger Vereniki Goneva was industry and power personified, scoring that decisive try just before the break, and causing all manner of bother besides.

All of Leicester's six British and Irish Lions looked in fine fettle too. Ben Youngs kicked well from scrum half and controlled the game excellently, while Manu Tuilagi may not have been eye-catchingly devastating but nonetheless he did get through some impressive heavy-duty work, including one huge first-half tackle on Ugo Monye.

The ubiquitous Tom Croft scored a second-half try of which most other blindside flankers can only dream. He sped away some 40m down the right like a winger. He was that quick, and that elusive. He was also mightily physical.

Tom Youngs made a couple of first-half surges that confirmed that he is one of the most effective ball-carrying hookers playing at present, and Geoff Parling was a master at the line out, as well as carrying effectively at times.

And Dan Cole made tackle after tackle, as well as stabilising a scrummage that had wobbled a little at first. Lions head coach Gatland will have been a happy man watching this.

Poor old Quins, though. In that first half, playing into a strong wind, they were very, very good. Against most sides they would have been well ahead at the break, but unfortunately Leicester are not like most sides.

The Quins scrummage troubled Leicester to the extent that they won a penalty after one particularly powerful effort. And they matched Leicester at every contact, with Maurie Fa'asavalu leading the charge with no thought for his own safety.

But still they trailed 13-9 at half time. And it was because of a rousing try on the stroke of the interval by the home side. Harlequins' lead of 9-6 lead looked well deserved until a ding-dong period of play suddenly produced a loose ball. Mike Brown, who had had his positive moments in the half, had been stripped in contact by Parling and Tom Youngs.

Ben Youngs skillfully flipped it up off the ground to Toby Flood. Outside him was Jordan Crane who quickly fed winger Goneva down the left.

The roar of the crowd told the story. Genova was clear, and not even a despairing tackle from Tom Williams could stop him. He even had time to run round under the posts and nonchalantly touch the ball down one-handed. Flood converted.

Until then it had been all penalties from Flood and Nick Evans, and in truth Quins had looked the more likely to score a try.

Danny Care came agonisingly close in the corner after Evans had punted a penalty quite brilliantly to the corner, and then Fa'asavalu and James Johnston had driven hard from the resulting line out. But superb defence from Croft ensured that Care had put some part of his body into touch.

On another occasion Quins had acres of space going left after Care had sniped successfully off the back of a line out, but could not transfer the ball swiftly enough to the free Monye. George Lowe was at fault. These were missed chances that Quins were to rue.

But an even greater sense of regret followed when Care was sin-binned on 52 minutes. It might have been a harsh decision as the scrum half was deemed to have knocked down Tait's inside pass deliberately. But it was undoubtedly costly.

During the period when Quins were a man down (Care never reappeared, with Karl Dickson immediately coming on for a forward, Fa'asavalu) first Flood kicked a penalty, for an offence that could also have seen Joe Marler sin-binned.

And then Niall Morris provided the killer blow with a try, that with Flood's conversion, made it 23-9. It was created by Tait's catch and spin out of the tackle and Tuilagi's burst through Ben Botica, and it put the game out of Quins' reach.

Eight minutes later Quins were restored numerically but there was simply not enough cover on their left flank as Croft raced away after receiving a pass from centre Anthony Allen, who was more than quietly efficient yet again, and after Botica had initially knocked the ball on.

And there was still more to come as Tait capped a wonderful display with a try of his own, taking Morris' pass to gallop clear.

There was a try at the end for Quins' replacement Ross Chisholm following a break from Williams, but it was no consolation whatsoever. The game had long been up.

Leicester had lost their last three matches to Quins, including last year's final. That was not going to happen again. Leicester have won three of those last eight finals, and it would take a brave man to bet against them adding a fourth from nine in a fortnight's time.